hello all,
there comes a time in every hunter's life where making the same hunt year after year begins to become tedious. for me that was last year. so this year I've been setting a number of challenges for myself.

this spring I decided I was going to call in my turkey for the first time and use my 80 year old Arisaka carbine in it's original open sights and 6.5x50mm to get my first black bear.

both challenges were met and conquered. now for deer season I will be hunting deer with my AR15s, my extra doe tag will be filled with the 9mm and the either/or will be with the standard 5.56. reasons being that teh 9mm will require careful stalking and close range shots and the 5.56 requiring extra attention to good shot placement.

how do you challenge yourselves on hunts when the same ole hunt gets boring?

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ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar.
I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein
You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

I hunt with a bow or my Encore handgun. Also, rather than shoot anything that's legal, I let small deer walk. There aren't a lot of options when large parcels might have 50 acres of woods and most have 10 or 15.

Switching to coyotes is one way to stay challenged. Different firearms/ archery is another.

The reason you get stuck on routine hunts is because you learn what works and what doesn't and you develope a routine... Especially with game animals, because you want that trophy and meat in the cooler.

Switching to varmints can result in free hunting opportunities and the challenges and rewards can come with it. Can still get trophies that way also.

I've gotten to the point now that I call turkeys with my mouth only (I still take calls along, but rarely use them) and shoot them with my 870 Compact Jr (20 gauge, 18.5" barrel kid's gun, but very handy.) The turkeys the last two years haven't noticed any difference at all.

I've hunted deer since Dad decided I was old enough and my hunting methods have been evolving ever since. I've taken deer with bow & handgun with iron sights and usually prefer still hunting over stand hunting. Not bragging at all - no reason to... it just keeps things interesting. Might have to try the ol' 10mm this year.

Interesting. I never thought of hunting as a challenge. As Deer Season Eve approaches, my neck swells up and I go to hooking the headboard at night. My wife gets the giggles, rolls her eyes and says, "Get the (bleep) out of here!"

And so like a kid at Christmas, off I wend my merry way to hunt camp.

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You're from BATFE? Come right in! I use all your fine products!

As many others, I mostly hunt deer nowadays either with bow or handguns. Sometimes I take a handgun caliber carbine. I too prefer to still/stalk hunt when conditions allow even tho my old bones don't like trompin' miles thru the swamps like they used to. Callin' turkeys into shotgun range is always a challenge, and I never tire of it. Trainin' a new dog every few years keeps the bird huntin' action lively as did teaching my two sons to hunt. Now it's almost the grand-kids turn.

For many years Michigan did not allow deer hunters to use tree stands when hunting with a firearm. I did for a couple of years after it was made legal. But now to challenge myself, I hunt from the ground with my bow, handgun and muzzle stuffer. I like to hunt the thick stuff so quite often the deer on me without much notice.

I want to try and shoot a fox or two this season. Up until this year we had never seen them around here. But every couple of weeks someone around here gets a glimpse of one of them. Even in the Georgia summer, they had nice looking coats, by december they will look even better. Thinking about making a hat out of one of them.

I've never hunted fox before and inexperienced with predator hunting in general, so it will probably be a learning experience.

What I like to hunt with for extra challenge is either my flintlock or sometimes my handguns I use all my handguns with nothing but open sights and my flinter is like those made in early America before the revolution.

One bragging animal I killed was an antelope 6 years ago with my 4" S&W 44. One shot at about 20 yards, but what made me feel good was the fact that I had to crawl over 400 yards to get to that range and was never seen. There was a very shallow wash that I was able to crawl up in, and it was a long stalk, but it was worth it.

Just getting back with the game I went after, seems to be as much of a challenge as I can muster, but some of the guys around McAlester have taken up Dove hunting with a Bow and Arrow. One of the guys here at the plant hunts almost every year. He says he rarely limits out, but he has a ball trying. He has tried to get me to go, but I do good to hit them with a shotgun.

Are you sure 9mm meets your states minimum caliber requirements? It doesn't in most states.

no restrictions except for no rimfire allowed.

Quote:

Try hunting with a flintlock.

I need a muzzle loader endorsement and muzzle loader season is normally earlier and I don't like hunting when it's hot... too much chance of meat spoiling.

Quote:

Also, rather than shoot anything that's legal

I can't tell how many times I reread that phrase until I actually read past and saw the complete point... for a second I thought ole pfleuger was admitting to some less than legal acts

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ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar.
I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein
You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

I started deer hunting with a handgun several years ago. Deer take initially went down, but satisfaction level went up. I've killed several with the handgun now, and each one has been more memorable than the last.

That said, I tried handgun squirrel hunting late last year with a setup similar to my deer setup. Only instead of a red-dot on a .44, it is a red-dot on a .22 magnum. Haven't hit a damned squirrel yet, but educated a dozen or so.

I can't tell how many times I reread that phrase until I actually read past and saw the complete point... for a second I thought ole pfleuger was admitting to some less than legal acts

Perhaps I could have worded that better.

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Let's keep this on topic, folks. The question in the OP is how do you challenge yourself. It's not about whether or not we think it's wise for someone else to do something. If it's legal, leave it alone. If you want to discuss minimum cartridges for game animals, you can make your own thread.

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Still happily answering to the call-sign Peetza.
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The problem, as you so eloquently put it, is choice.
-The Architect
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He is no fool who gives what he can not keep to gain what he can not lose.
-Jim Eliott, paraphrasing Philip Henry.

Use a single shot - whether rifle or TC or XP-100; something about knowing you have one shot to make it good adds a challenge.
Use open sights in lieu of a scope
Use a BPCR with a tang sight
Use a bow (especially for turkey, antelope or elk)
Go after chukar/pheasant/quail without a dog
Hunt waterfowl with an old SxS

I take my kids with me. A 5 year old has a really hard time sitting still in a duck blind, try getting a limit that way. Then I took him elk hunting. It took 2 years to get him to walk quietly. It is fairly hard to sneak up on any big game with a young child tagging along. We both had fun and learned a few things along the way. Now he is 12 and is my best huntin' buddy. It was a challenge teaching him to hunt, but it was more rewarding than any successful hunt. And we still learn something every time we go.

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You can't fix stupid....however ignorance can be cured through education!

One bragging animal I killed was an antelope 6 years ago with my 4" S&W 44. One shot at about 20 yards, but what made me feel good was the fact that I had to crawl over 400 yards to get to that range and was never seen. There was a very shallow wash that I was able to crawl up in, and it was a long stalk, but it was worth it.

This is cool....I have a 4" 629..and have killed pigs with it..but never this kinda challenge....

I hunt with a number of different rifles....Open sights or scoped....
I hunt mature bucks only....They are the most challenge....
As far as pigs..I try to shoot every one I see....(I do try to line up 2 if I can)

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